George R.R. Martin Donated A 1st Edition Of The Hobbit To Texas A&M

George R.R. Martin made a very special donation of a rare first edition of The Hobbit to Texas A&M marking the five millionth volume received by the university. It will join the first American edition (1938) and the second British edition (1951) in the Cushing Library collection at the Southern University which houses one of the largest collections of science fiction and fantasy literature in the world.

Only 1,500 of this edition, which features art designed by Tolkien himself, were ever published. Martin chose the university because he became connected to it after attending AggieCon back in the 1970s. He notes:

During one of those visits, I was given a tour of the special collections and saw not only the books and manuscripts and other items that were on deposit there but also the physical facility itself which was very impressive

Martin’s donated book will be on display for a short time before it is placed with the rest of the Tolkien collection.